The future stars of Ohio State football officially begin their college careers, as standouts from all over the country put pens to their National Letters of Intent.
While it may not be the most glamorous position, Ryan Day needed a kicker for his first recruiting class in Columbus. What better way to do so than adding one of the nation's best who happens to reside just about 90 minutes to the southwest?
Jake the leg Welcome to the 614 @seibert_jake #GoBucks #XXclusive pic.twitter.com/1iUuY8nQLt
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 18, 2019
The Seibert File
- Class: 2020
- Size: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds
- Pos: Kicker
- School: La Salle (Cincinnati)
- Composite Rating: ★★★
- Composite Rank: 2 (K)
Cincinnati La Salle's Jake Seibert checks in as the No. 2 kicker in America. He held offer from the likes of UCLA and Michigan State before electing to side with the in-state Buckeyes.
The decision was an interesting one, however, as his path to a scholarship will be a bit different than the rest of Ohio State's 2020 class. Seibert had the opportunity to come in on a full ride at a number of other programs, but he has instead elected to take a grayshirt in order to attend his dream school.
It's a bit of a complicated process, but it basically means that he will pay his own way for a semester before being on scholarship. The benefit for Ohio State would be that it would free a scholarship for the Class of 2020 while still keeping Seibert on campus and a part of the program.
Blake Haubeil will be a senior next year, and if all goes as planned, Seibert would then take over at the position. Haubeil is currently the lone scholarship kicker on the team's roster. As far as special teams are concerned, the grayshirt route has become fairly customary with Haubeil having taken a similar path.
For Jake Seibert, his recruitment actually began with former Buckeye assistant Taver Johnson. The former cornerbacks coach invited him up for a game in 2018 and he eventually earned an offer this past May. After that, it took just two weeks for him to announce his commitment on June 4th.
“I’m hoping to be better than Mike Nugent was. I want to be the best kicker to ever come through Ohio State.”
When Johnson left Columbus for his current job with the Oakland Raiders, Seibert was left with no real connection to the Ohio State staff. His lone relationship was really with punter Drue Chrisman as the duo attended the same high school and shared the same trainer.
Chrisman arrived in 2016 and is now one of the top punters in America. He'll soon be joined by fellow Lancer Jake Seibert as the Buckeye special teams will have a strong Queen City flavor to it.
Seibert made his official visit to Ohio State last weekend and will arrive on campus this summer.
